How to make a floor plan for a real estate listing

Three ways to get a listing floor plan

Way	Time and cost
Tape, notepad and drawing software	A measuring visit, then an evening at the computer. It costs your time.
Hire a floor plan service	A booked visit, then the drawing a few days later, with a fee per listing.
Scan it yourself with PlaceAnew	The walk you already take for the listing; the plan is drawn when you stop. Scanning, floor plans, 3D, editing, the kitchen designer with prices and exports are free.

For scale: one Wisconsin floor plan service quotes about 90 minutes on site for a 2,000 sq ft home and $165, with the plan 24 to 48 hours later.^[1] A multi-state real estate photography company lists floor plans from $119, delivered in about a day.^[2] Buyers do use them: 57% of online home shoppers in NAR's 2025 survey rated floor plans very useful.^[3]

What a listing floor plan should show

• Every room, named: bedrooms, baths, kitchen, living, dining, hallways.
• Room sizes that buyers can compare, and the total.
• Doors and windows in place, so buyers see the flow and the light.
• One floor per drawing, labeled, for multi-story homes.
• A note that sizes are approximate. The total of the rooms is not the home's official square footage; see what a floor plan's square footage means.

From listing visit to listing, step by step

1. Before you start: lights on, blinds open, interior doors open. Apple recommends good light for RoomPlan, the technology PlaceAnew uses.^[4]
2. Scan one floor. Walk calmly from room to room, sweeping the camera from floor to ceiling along each wall. A typical room takes a minute or two.
3. Check before you leave. Dashed walls and "estimate" labels mark what PlaceAnew could not see. Rename a room or move a wall in the editor while you are still there.
4. Repeat for each floor of a multi-story home.
5. Export. Share the PDF report with the plan and every room's area, or the SVG drawing for a designer.
6. Make the listing picture. Most listing sites take JPG photos: open the PDF on a Mac in Preview and export the plan page as a JPG, then upload it with the photos.

Tips that make the plan look professional

• Name rooms the way buyers search: "Primary bedroom", "Half bath", "Office".
• Keep closets and hallways. A plan with missing hallways looks like a mistake.
• Use the 3D model in the brochure. The same scan gives a 3D view of the home with its furniture, from above like a dollhouse.
• Save Walk. The recording of your visit, lined up with the plan, answers a buyer's "where is the outlet in the den?" without a trip back.

Questions about listing floor plans

More for agents: PlaceAnew for real estate.